About the Surname Bertone and Related Surnames

Berton is a surname typical of Veneto. Bertona is specific to the areas of Borgomanero and Cressa in Novara. Bertone is typical of western Piedmont and Liguria, and it can also be found in the Naples and Isernia areas. Bertoni is typical of Lombardy, Emilia, and eastern Liguria, and it is also present in northwestern Tuscany and Udine. According to E. Rossoni, all these surnames share the same origin:

• They may derive from the apheresis (loss of a sound at the beginning of a word) of the Latin name Libertus (a name given to freed slaves), or even from the apheresis of names like Adalberto, Giselberto, Otberto, and similar ones.
• They could also originate from the medieval name Bertus, which in turn derives from the Lombard word bertha = "bright," or from the Celtic word bert = "carrier."
• Another possible origin lies in the term bertone, which in medieval times referred to someone with cropped ears or the son of a woman of ill repute.
• A fourth hypothesis suggests that the surname derives from the medieval term bertone, which Italians used until 1400 to refer to merchants from northern Europe.